Paris, France: The Neighbourhoods Of ‘La Rive Gauche’

I was standing in line at the Louvre even before they opened the doors. After buying a ticket at a self-service machine and dropping off my coat and backpack, I immediately headed for the one place I knew I wanted to see first. If I waited any longer, there would be such a crowd it might not even be worth it.

From the main atrium it was a little confusing finding the way to the Mona Lisa, but I eventually made it there. There was a modest group, about 15 people and by the time I walked away from that exhibit, the number had doubled. A fence of stanchions and felt rope had formed a convex semi-circle in front of the painting, and many of the visitors took turns standing at any available point on the arc and turned their backs to the Mona Lisa, flashing cheesy smiles at their friends with cameras. I rolled my eyes and hoped that the museum board had installed some kind of UV-filtering glass in front of the fragile work. As much as I’m not a fan of having people in photographs when the subject of the picture is not the people themselves, I’m REALLY not a fan of doing it in a highly populated area, where everyone is jostling for view of the very thing you’re standing in front of.

Paris, France: My Language Skills Limit My Visit To Repeatedly Asking For Directions To ‘La Bibliotheque’

When I arrived in Paris I actually had specific directions to the hostel. After all, it was huge city and the hostel was tucked away in one of the neighbourhoods northeast of the city center. I wasn’t going to wing it late at night on my first day. It would be like trying to improv the trip from Grand Central to a random address in Brooklyn.

St. Christopher’s hostel (a chain, you’ll find them around Europe) sits on the Rue de Crimee, at one end of the Bassin de la Villette, a large pool which looked like one part of a waterway to connect ships to the Seine. I got to the hostel with surprising ease. Unfortunately, the elevator was broken and I was on the 5th floor. Great. I huffed up the 5 flights with my packs and was surprised to find a 12-share that actually was big enough for a 12 people. It was a huge room overlooking the street with windows covering two walls. The bunk beds were almost built into the walls, like cubby holes, and they even came with curtains! It was a very different setup than most of the hostels I had been to so far.

You also get a discount on a drink whenever you check in, so I went down to the bar to cash it in. The beer was still pretty expensive. Each St. Chris comes with a restaurant/bar on the ground floor run by the same company. Unfortunately, they substitute the restaurant for a kitchen, but depending on who you ask, they’ll let you snag plates and silverware to take up to your room if you need to. They also give you a free breakfast, which also helps to make up for the lack of self-catering facilities.

With the help of my LP, I planned out the next couple days. I was eager to try out some of the French I learned in school and I was excited about finally getting to visit Paris. I started taking French classes in middle school and a favorite teaching tool of language teachers at the time were these tutorial videos of young French actors and actresses acting out everyday situations. Like, “Hello Edouard, would you like to go to the cinema this afternoon?” Or “Yes Michel, I will drive my red car there.” Besides the enthralling conversation, what I most appreciated were the scenes of French cities and countrysides, and the museums and landmarks. The travel bug got me early, and it started with Paris. Finally, 15 years later, I was getting the chance to see those things in person and put my French to practical use.

Geneva, Switzerland: They Must Have Been Behind On Their Water Bills … Everyone’s Feeling The Pinch

I had until 4 PM to explore Geneva before I would have to get on a train to Paris. I started with the older sections of the city’s CBD: narrow cobblestone alleys and paths that dart between buildings, and up and down the hills that pull away from the water’s edge. I stopped at the ubiquitous old church and tried to find something unique about those walkways … I cursed the cookie-cut landscape of Europe’s older cities, but then I thought about the legacy of architecture and city planning modern cultures were leaving behind. Suddenly it didn’t seem so bad anymore.

The weather was beautiful. Not hot, not cold, not overcast, nor was it cloudless. It was a great day to be walking around one of Europe’s most famous cities.

But it would’ve been nice if they had turned the water on. The Jet d’Eau is one of the world’s largest water fountains. Two jets stream more than 130 gallons of water per second, 450 feet in the air. It can even be seen from an airplane at 33,000 ft, and at any time there’s about 1,850 gallons of water suspended above the lake’s surface.

Here’s the funny thing about the Jet d’Eau: apparently it has opening hours. The water jets are situated on a stone jetty that extends onto the lake, further down the marina from the Jardin Anglais. I was expecting to see the iconic plume of water even at 10 in the morning, but the jets seemed to be off. I didn’t realize that the stone jetty was the Jet d’Eau itself, but I innocently walked onto it to get pictures of the city from the water’s edge. It wasn’t until I saw tourists taking pictures next to a fenced-off area of the jetty did I figure it out. It seems people have actually walked out there while the jets were operational and, due to shifting winds, been drenched.

Geneva, Switzerland: Gandhi Leaves The Wellington Train Station For The Geneva UN Center

There’s another town in that valley named Gimmelwald which was supposed to be nice for a day trip; hikes, nice views, etc, etc. Unfortunately the weather was cloudy and threatening rain, so I scrapped those plans and decided to head straight for Geneva.

The trip to Geneva was very uneventful. I checked into a hostel within close walking distance of the train station and dropped my things off. It was the smallest three-share dorm in the world. It might have even been smaller than my freshman year dorm at Michigan, which was the smallest space I’ve ever lived in. And I shared that room with only one other person. On top of being small, this room in Geneva was also arranged a little funny. It was your average rectangular shape, except the area closest to the door contained a sink on one side and lockers on the other. There was a three-quarters wall dividing that sink area from the rest of the room, but the way the door opened — putting you right at the sink — you would have to close the door to be able to walk around the dividing wall. I attempted to enter the room with my packs on and found that I couldn’t close the door while standing in the sink area without twisting and twirling in place a few times. I felt like I was in a video game and some kid was controlling me while upbeat music played in the background.

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland: Shame On You, Fondue Should Be Served With Love …

It was about more than just the exercise; I wanted to get some pictures of the mountain ranges around Lauterbrunnen. With the help of the hostel owners, I picked out a long, challenging track that would presumably give me a good views of the area.

The first leg was a sharp ascent to Wengen, another tourist town which sat high above Lauterbrunnen. The trail consisted of several very steep switchbacks out of the valley, finally ending in a small, deserted town. I was looking for restaurants, cafes, window shoppers, and the like, but it didn’t seem like tourist season had started yet. I picked the first bench I came across, ate a snack and caught my breath.

Interla … Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland: Plans Change, But The Story Continues

If the weather had started to improve in the morning I thought I would do a quick trip to one of the mountains surrounding Lucerne before leaving. The receptionist checked online and there was almost no visibility at any of them.

Interlaken is the adventure sports capital of the Swiss Alps, offering things like bungee-jumping, hang gliding and skydiving. I had picked two hostels in town and began my walk from the Interlaken-West train station. The plan was to amuse myself in Interlaken for the rest of the day and night — maybe do a short hike — then go to Lauterbrunnen in the morning. Lauterbrunnen is the small alpine town about which the guys at Krumlov House had spoke so highly, so I knew I had to at least check it out.

As I walked towards town I started wondering if staying in Interlaken was the right call. The town elevation was relatively low, so to even do some regular hiking you would have to walk or take a train up the mountain to get to the trails. Plus, with less than a day there, most of my time would be eaten up by unpacking and then repacking to check out. If I went straight to Lauterbrunnen, I could spend the afternoon settling in and getting my bearings, then get a full day and night to hike and explore the town. I stopped walking just as I got to a huge open field right before the town center. I picked a bench, put my pack down and took out my lunch. As I slowly chewed my sandwich and stared at the giant “Hollywood”-like sign across the field, I carefully considered my options. By the time I finished eating, I had made my decision.

Lucerne, Switzerland: That Is One Sad-Looking Rock

I got up early the next morning and walked into central Lucerne. The town itself is very small and seems to cater only to tourists breezing through town on the way to the mountains. Every other store sells Swiss watches and knives, and the ones that don’t sell either, sell chocolates. And yes, I found one that sold all three. This shop had me a little homesick for the good ol’ US of A:

What do we like? Guns. And how many of them do we like? Lots. There was even a poker set that included cards, chips and a small snub-nosed revolver. Convenient for accusing people of being yeller-bellied cheaters.

Blogabout – The Global Counterculture Encyclopedia

The good people at WordPress give you the ability to look into your blog stats in pretty specific detail, such as number of hits per day and per post, incoming links, and terms used to search for your blog.

On average, at least once a day people seek advice on what to do when “people think I’m gay,” to arrive at my post on that very subject. In fact, it’s the all-time leader in hits, receiving nearly double the visits of the #2 post, which, surprisingly, was the one about Jake and Steffen trying to sled down a sand dune in Tasmania.

Though for the first time, no one searched for “people think I’m gay” today. Instead, they wanted to know about “sex piss hamburg.” I appreciate their bluntness, though I’m not sure if I really helped him out on that one; all I can say is I did my best. Maybe they’re just overcompensating for being labeled as a homosexual.

Every now and then I’ll also see searches for “shapeshifting jews,” obviously an allusion to the hit comedy “Borat.” I wrote a quick post — one of my first — about how the bed and breakfast he visited in the movie was located in Newton, MA. Considering that the movie was released several years ago however, someone’s either late to the party or there are a lot of really racist people driving around on the superhighway.

I find it comforting to know that the Blogosphere is full of people with such a wide range of tastes and desires. And if they can find a home here at Blogabout, well I say welcome. I mean, who else single-handedly provide for the guy who searches for “best campground in tasmania,” “prostutes in germany [sic],” and “voyeurism in parks”?

Lucerne, Switzerland: Hopefully He Gives Them A Hug Before Chopping Them Down

I really had to pee by the time I got to Lucerne. On top of that frustration, as I wandered through the the Zurich train station before my departure I found a market had been set up in the large terminal. Full of fresh breads, cheeses, meats and produce, it brought tears to my eyes, and I emotionally berated myself for not having budgeted some time to pick up delicious goodies.

I arrived in Lucerne about as clueless as I’ve arrived in most of the cities I’ve visited so far. All I had to guide me was the 2-by-2 in. diagram on the back of the brochure for the hostel where I had reserved two nights. I only knew one thing: if I didn’t find a bathroom soon, I would be having a very unique Blogabout experience.

Zurich, Switzerland: Pictures and Presidents

The weather was horrible that first morning in Zurich, though not so horrible I needed an umbrella. I walked down to the lake, but there was so much fog surrounding the city you couldn’t even see any of the mountains or buildings around the water.

Across the river I stumbled across a small farmers market (market!!) and I browsed some of the offerings. The produce looked fresh and the baked goods irresistible, but the prices were quite outrageous. It made me miss the days of the Saturday morning market in Brisbane, picking up fresh, delicious and cheap products.

From there I visited the Fraumunster, one of Zurich’s two famous churches. The Fraumunster’s biggest claim to fame (almost as much as having been built in the 9th century) are the five stained glass windows inside designed by artist Marc Chagall.

From there I wandered through the narrow streets and alleys of the old town. Most of the shops were clothing or jewellery, few of them seemed to be those small cozy cafe’s and restaurants that one would expect. Even on the other side of the river, near the hostel, the bars and restaurants were either high-end outfits, chains, kebab shops or dive bars. Maybe I’m just caught up in the romanticism of medieval Europe … or maybe I was just dying for a cup of coffee.